Mamata says Bengal was offered Pegasus spyware for Rs 25 crore, 4-5 years ago

A day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee revealed that the controversial Pegasus spyware was offered to her government she provided on Thursday more details stating the state police was approached at least four to five years back with an offer to sell the controversial Israeli spyware for just Rs 25 croreThe chief minister said she had turned it down when she came to know of itBanerjee also alleged that instead of using the spyware for the security of the country it was used by the central government which she claimed purchased it for political reasons against judges and officialsHowever the Telugu Desam party denied assertions made by her on Wednesday that the then chief minister of Andhra Pradesh Chandrababu Naidu had purchased the spyware during his tenureThey NSO the company which developed Pegasus had approached everybody to sell their ware They had approached our police too fourfive years ago and offered to sell it for Rs 25 crore I had the information but I said that we did not require it Banerjee said at the state secretariatIf it was used for the benefit of the country or security reasons then it was a different matter altogether but it has been used for political purposes against judges officers which is not at all welcomed she allegedThe Bengal chief minister had on Wednesday disclosed in the Assembly that her government was offered Pegasus spyware which she had declined as it had the potential to encroach upon peoples privacyDuring her disclosure in the Assembly the fiery leader had also claimed that the Andhra government had it during Chandrababu Naidus timeHowever the Telegu Desam party refuted the claim and said the Chandrababu Naidu government had made no such purchaseWe have never purchased any spyware We never indulged in any illegal phone tapping Telugu Desam Party general secretary Nara Lokesh said here on ThursdayReacting to Banerjees claim that the previous Chandrababu Naidu government purchased the Pegasus Spyware Lokesh who was the then Minister for Information Technology in his father Chandrababus Cabinet said I dont know whether she has indeed said this and where and in which context If she did say this she is certainly misinformedHowever he said the software was offered to the state governmentYes Pegasus offered to sell its spyware to the AP government as well but we rejected it Lokesh saidHad the government purchased the spyware there would be a record of it he pointed outAn international media consortium had reported last year that over 300 verified Indian mobile phone numbers were on the list of potential targets for surveillance using Pegasus spywareA New York Times report earlier this year claiming India bought Pegasus spyware as part of a USD 2 billion defence deal with Israel in 2017 had triggered a major controversy with the Opposition alleging that the government had indulged in illegal snooping that amounted to treasonThe Supreme Court is currently hearing a batch of pleas on the allegations of misuse of this spyware in IndiaThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever